Old favorite Kokkari again on top of its game

Lamb roasts on the giant rotisserie in the front dining room at Kokkari.

Lamb roasts on the giant rotisserie in the front dining room at Kokkari.

Photo: John Storey / John Storey / Special To The Chronicle 2012

Photo: John Storey / John Storey / Special To The Chronicle 2012

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Lamb roasts on the giant rotisserie in the front dining room at Kokkari.

Lamb roasts on the giant rotisserie in the front dining room at Kokkari.

Photo: John Storey / John Storey / Special To The Chronicle 2012

Old favorite Kokkari again on top of its game

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When the 2015 edition of the Bay Area Zagat Survey came out in December, it contained a first: Kokkari was rated the region’s top restaurant.

That was surprising on several counts: Kokkari has been around for more than 15 years, doesn’t fit the cool industrial vibe of restaurants that have opened in the last decade, and its cuisine — Greek — isn’t prominent in Northern California.

It’s a grand restaurant in the old style, with finished-beam ceilings, wide-planked wood floors and a fireplace in the front dining room with a rotisserie big enough to cook haunches of meat and a dozen chickens at one time.

In the back dining room, called the Taverna, diners can see an open kitchen with a cadre of staff, including longtime chef Erik Cosselmon, putting out the food for up to 185 guests.

Yet even with the generous number of seats, getting a reservation isn’t easy. It’s become a gathering place for high rollers in the Financial District — at my visit earlier this week, more than half the men had on suits and sport coats.

For many years Kokkari was on my Top 100 list, but it came off in 2010 when the food and service seemed rote. It felt similar on several return visits, and I hadn’t been back for at least two years. But several people whose dining opinions I respect name Kokkari among their favorites, so I gave it another shot.

At my dinner this week, it seemed as if everything was back on track.

After being seated, however, it became evident that I was recognized as a critic, and our server was replaced by someone presumably more experienced, though much of the staff has been there for years. They know their legions of regulars. Still, looking around the dining room and into the kitchen, it was impressive to see the teamwork and the care taken with each dish that passed by.

While menus at newer restaurants are increasingly shorter, Kokkari still has enough choices to please everyone — 27 appetizers, soups and salads, and 11 main courses.

Many specialties are grilled, including the popular octopus ($16) with lemon, olive oil and oregano, and what turned out to be a highlight: whole calamari ($11) stuffed with feta cheese that melts and oozes out when cut, accented with fennel, oranges and briny black olives.

The wood oven does its magic on such things as Brussels sprouts ($9.50), nearly blackened around the edges and dressed with loads of lemon and capers. The fryer shows off the crisp chicken livers ($9) — golden and crunchy, having first been marinated in yogurt and feta, they’re among the best I’ve had.

There’s always a nightly special from the rotisserie — on my visit it was lamb — but I went with what many say is the best dish on the menu: three plump lamb chops ($43.50) grilled precisely to medium rare and enhanced with a lemon and oregano vinaigrette and wedges of crisp potatoes. They do deserve a “best of” status.

Kokkari is also known for its whole fish — three kinds are available. They can either be simply grilled — a suggested preparation for the petrale sole — or roasted with tomatoes, olives and potatoes, which is what we chose for the branzino ($39.50). It came to the table whole — although the waiter offered to fillet it in the kitchen if we didn’t want to tackle the chore ourselves — perfectly cooked and smothered in the sweet, balanced sauce.

With the smell of oregano and burning embers, diners could imagine themselves on the Greek Isles.

For those who dream of going there, the simple, pure food at Kokkari is an inducement to fulfill that desire.